Mouth protector



Jan. 9, 1962 L. L. ZUBREN 3,016,052

MOUTH PROTECTOR Filed Dec. 9, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTQOR LOUIS L.ZUBREN ATTORNEYS L. L. ZUBREN MOUTH PROTECTOR Jan. 9, 1962 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 9, 1959 N E R B mu T2 WM. m mu 0 L M Y BATTORNEYS United States Patent O 3,016,052 MOUTH PROTECTOR Louis L.Zubren, 5500 W. Capitol Drive, Milwaukee, Wis. Filed Dec. 9, 1959, Ser.No. 858,417 2 Claims. (Cl. 128-436) This invention appertains to a mouthguard and more particularly to a contoured intra-oral dental appliance,and is a continuation in part of my prior application entitled MouthProtector, Serial No. 744,393, filed June 25, 1958, and said pendingapplication is hereby abandoned in favor of this continuing application.

There is a definite need for an all purpose mouth guard, that can besafely and comfortably worn'by persons both during sleep and wakeperiods. The need for mouth protection in contact sports, particularlywhere an individual has teeth restoration, has long been recognized.Where orthodontic appliances are worn incident to the straightening ofteeth, injury is often caused by such bracing during sleep to the lips,cheeks and tongue, due to the constant changing of position by thesleeper. The need of tooth and lip protection for musicians playing reedinstruments is also known. It is also highly important, that any guardworn, be firmly anchored in place against accidental displacement ofdislodgement caused by a forcible blow and at the same time allow freenormal movement of the lower jaw. Due to changing football tactics andprotecting helmets for players with face bars for interceptinghorizontal blows, principal injuries to players are now caused to theunprotected lower jaw and from upward rising blows starting blow thechin.

Drawing from my knowledge of anatomy, principles of application,occulsion, articulation, dental materials, etc., obtained as a doctor ofdental surgery and also from my experience in contact sports, I haveprovided a mouth guard which has as a principal object of the invention,a construction which conforms to the anatomy of the month, includingtooth, gum and surrounding tissue area, and which will give a maximumamount of protection from blows and stresses coming from all pointstoward the jaw or mouth and particularly from upward rising blows.

Working on the premise that the factors mentioned above are variable, myinvention seeks and has as one of its principal objects, to provide adevice which will initially conform to the general characteristics of anaverage mouth, but which can be varied from person to person and thenfinally fitted to the exact characteristics of the mouth of oneindiw'dual.

A further important object of my invention is the provision of acontoured intra-oral dental device embodying a preformed resilientplastic tray scientifically designed to conform to the knowncharacteristics of an average mouth for receiving the teeth and adjacentgum areas of a person and a mix of the same material as the tray andplaced in a moldable form directly in the tray or base, whereby the trayor base with the mix can be placed in the mouth by the. person himself,to receive the teeth and adjacent gum areas, sothat a correct andindividual impression of the persons mouth can be obtained, the mixreadily curing when exposed to the atmosphere at room temperature andcombining with the material of the preformed trayor base to form anintegral homogeneous whole.

A further salient object of my invention is to provide a mouth guard inwhich dental principles, such as Bonwills triangle, curve of spec,adjustable peripheral border etc. are variable in the tray, owing to thenature of the material being used, the tray being bendable to the shapeof a particular persons mouth and being adapted to receive the mix forthe correct impression of a persons mouth, the 'border of the tray orbase being capable of being trimmed by a pair of scissors or the like toconform to adjacent gum and cheek tissue.

A further important object of my invention is to not only provide a traywhich will conform to the average mouth configuration, and one which canbe formed with the fingers to conform to a certain mouth structure, butone which will also conform to the terminals of the gums; the formationand configuration of the tray being such as to form a completereceptacle for receiving the mix or impression material.

A still further object of my invention is to form the preformed tray insuch a manner as to protrude above the tooth line and then over adjacentgum areas and merge therewith, the marginal edges of the tray taperingto a zero radius, so that there will be no appreciable thickness betweenthe juncture of the lips and the gums.

A still further important object of my invention is to provide a light,durable mouth guard which will effectively absorb and distribute shock,one which will prevent contact of an orthodontic appliance with thelips, cheeks and tongue of the wearer and one which will be comfortableto wear and not particularly noticeable to the casual observer, so thatsame can be worn by musicians playing reed instruments, with confidence.

A still further important object of my invention is the provision of aresilient, moldable mouth guard which conforms exactly to the teeth andgum formation of a particular wearers mouth, whereby to afford maximumprotection and to prevent accidental displacement of the guard from themonth.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in thenovel construction, arrangement and formation of parts, as will behereinafter more specifically described and claimed, and illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, in which drawings,

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of the preformed base or tray;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view through the base memmer or tray, taken onthe line 22 of FIGURE 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary, longitudinal sectional view through one sideof the tray, the section being taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 1, lookingin the direction of the arrows, the View showing more particularly themaxillary and mandibular compensating curvatures;

partly broken away and in section showing the guard in a persons mouth,with the impression material combining with the tray and curing andconforming to the configuration of the teeth and adjacent gum and cheekareas;

FIGURE 7 is a top plan view of the completed guard removed from themouth of a person with parts thereof broken away and in section toillustrate the union between the impression material and the materialfrom which the tray is formed; g

FIGURE 8 is a side elevational'view showing the trimming of the marginalgum areas of the guard to conform to the exact tissue contour at thejuncture of the gum and cheek areas, and

FIGURE 9 is a transverse sectional view through one side of thecompleted device.

Referring to the drawings in detail, wherein similar referencecharacters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views,the letter G generally in' dicates my novel mouth guard and the sameincludes .a base or tray 16 and a filler 11. I

The. base or tray is formed from a relatively soft, resilient plasticmaterial and this materialis of sufiicient rigidity to hold itspreformed shape, and an example of this material will be later setforth. It is to be also understood that this soft, resilient plasticmaterial can be bent or pressed into a desired shape and that thematerial will maintain such pressed shape. The base or tray 16 "ispreformed and shaped to conformto the average The rear terminals of thebase or tray are closed by end walls 15 which fit rear gum terminals andso that a complete receptacle for the fillerll will be had.

The base or tray ltl has been scientifically designed to "conform to theknown general characteristics of an average mouth. .Hence, the trayconforms to known mouth characteristics and the sides of the base extendupwardly along a parabolic curve. The peripheral size of the traycorresponds to the Bonwill triangle,-which describes the mandible andmandibular arch as adapting itself to an equilateral triangle.Posteriorly, the maxillary alveolar process ends with the maxillarytuberosity (walls Particular attention'is-called to the outer wall 13and this wall conforms to known gum and lip contours. The walls 12 and13 due to, the nature of the material can be readily trimmed, as will belater pointed out, to conform to the characteristics of a certain mouth.The upper edges'of the walls 12 'and'13 gradually taper to a zeroradius, as indicated by the reference character 16, so

that maximum comfort will be bad. This taper is maintained during thetrimming of the walls. be noted that the outer wall 13is of a greaterheight than it is also to the inner wall 12 so that the guard at thefront and sides will effectively protect and conform to outer gum areas.Again referring to the bottom wall 14, and as heretofore brought out,the samev inclines upwardly and rearwardly inorder to correspond to themaxillary and mandibular curvatures and graduallyincreases in thicknesstoward the front or incisor region. The inner and outer surfaces of thewalls 15 are inclined to conform to the maxillary and mandibular planeof inclination and this is important to the invention.

The filler 11 is formed from a material identical with or having thesame characteristics as the material from which the base or tray 10 isformed With the base member or tray 14) in its preformed molded shape,then the elements of the filler 11 are poured into the tray and combinedtogether. The material immediately starts to cure and combine with thematerial of the tray 10, and the tray 10 with the filler 11 is placed inthe mouthfirm against the teeth, whereby the cusp impressions extenddown to the bottom wall 14 and the material flows around adjacent gumareas, maxillae and muco buccal fold; and the filler 11 is allowed tocure. and take the impression of the teeth and adjacent gum areas. Asthe filler is of the same material as the tray, the filler materialcombines directly with the material of the tray and forms a unitary,homogeneous unit. the impression has beencompleted the guard is removedfrom the mouth and allowed to further cure and congeal. The guard thusformed can be used over and over again. r

- As shown'in FIGURE 8, the marginal walls 12 and 13 and particularlythe wall 13 can be trimmed off, as indi- Obviously, when r from varioustypes of material. preferred type of material, I use an acrylic resin.The

teeth and gingival. tissues.

' 4 cated by the reference character 17, so that this will conform togum tissues and thus give a maximum amount of comfort to the wearer.

Due to the fact, that the guard G conforms exactly to an individualmouth, the guard will cling to adjacent areas and thus the guard willeffectively be held in place against accidental movement.

The guard G is of an extremely light weight and as it conforms to themouth and tooth configuration, the same forms an effective means forpreventing injury both to tissues and upper and lower teeth, and theguard will effectively absorb and distribute shock. My device has "beenespecially designed to protect the lower jaw from upward rising blowsand to absorb and distribute the force of the blow. The curvature of theouter surface of the base or tray is suchas to allow all normalmovements of the mandible or lower jaw.

The base or tray 10 and the filler 11 can be formed As an example of amaterial used is;

Lucite 4 F pink colored powdermethyhmethacrylate finepowder (a) Methylmethycrylatemonomer (b) Plasticizerdibutyl adipate or dibutylsebacate(0) Oil of Wintergreen V (d) Accelerator: dimethyl aniline or N,N,dimethyl- P- Toluidine (e) Mineral oil his material, due to theaccelerator (d) has a cure at substantially room temperature.

The components as outlined are mixed, the powder added to the liquid inaratio of 30 cc. powder to 17 cc. liquid. The mixture is placed in themold and compressed at room temperature. :The time for polymerization,chemical reaction is 12 minutes. The dies are separated and the guard isejected and trimmed. The dies are sprayed with a silicone separatingagent. The filler material, or impression material, as n chairside, ordo-it-yourself projecn'is then proportioned and ready for use. Thismixture is the same as outlinedabove andthe proportions are 20 cc.powder to 11 cc. liquid; The liquid content is increased to give asofter texture against the An alternate'filler or impression material isLucite 4 F in pink plus isopropyl or ethel alcohol plus mineral oil,plus oil of intergreen, plus dibutyl sebacate or dibutyl adipate plusdime-thyl aniline or N,N, dimethyl-P-toluidine. Either filler willmechanically join the base form and form a homogeneous union. Thus themouth protector is composed of one single material which produces thenew or different mouth protector. The acrylic resin compositionproducing the guard blank, and the filler to obtain an impressioncomposed of acrylic resin, due to the chemical composition of theaniline added, gives a substantial room temperature cure. r

The resilient acrylic resin has specific characteristics whichparticularly lends itself to the novel design of my guard and the moldsfrom which the various tray sizes are fabricated. The trays can be madein different sizes and contours, namely, wider, longer, shorter orhigher, with various indentations for conforming to gum maxillae anatomyand muscle attachments. s

The tray formed from: the resilient acrylic resin retains its resilientproperties and thus, during the process of taking the impression, thetray can conform to the compensating curve and adjust itself to theplane or orientation. The space in the tray for receiving the filler 11assures a proper freeway to provide a perfectly balanced occlusion forthe tray.

Owing to the type of material used in the tray and.

can be made so that the guard will adapt itself to changes in a personsmouth. Thus, for instance, say a guard is initially used by a boyfifteen, and as additional teeth become present, the new impressions canbe made.

My guard differs in technique, principle of application, construction,adaptation, principle of stability and adhesion and occlusion from allprior mouth guards with which I am familiar.

Particular attention is invited to the fact that the variable principlesin my design are as follows:

(1) The compensating curvature, the maxillary compensating curvature,the mandibular compensating curvature and the combined compensatingcurvatures adapting to a certain individual, the curvatures and specificshapes being present on the inside and outside surfaces of the base ortray.

(2) The convex curvature, which also becomes a changeable curvature.

(3) The plane of orientation-incline for the mandibular and maxillarycombined to form the variable inclined plane for a certain user.

(4) Peripheral border adaptation.

(5) Tensile strength and difference in distances of the mandibularcompensating curvature and maxillary compensating curvature, the partsof which operate independently, yet as a Whole entity.

(6) The zero radius and the structures designed to preserve the zeroradius.

(7) The open chain polymer, plasticizer in monomer and the self-curefeature when combined retain the above characteristics, yet result in anew alignment and which can take the form and be applied to principlesof design. The form and design in part and in total can be altered andvaried yet retain the form and design of the original, yet can beadapted to the natural anatomy of a particular individual.

The height of the outer Walls 12 and 13 and the end walls 15 and theparticular design of the periphery are measurable and determinable bydental techniques. One of the unique and novel features herein is thatthe walls of the tray are variable by stretching and deforming thewalls, and by opening mechanically the polymer chain, and byapproximating and adjusting to the anatomy and muscle attachments of themaxillae. The adjustments are trimming and cutting of the peripheralborder in a manner preserving the correct outline of the border tissues,and the stretched and corrected peripheral border will now closelyapproximate the muco buccal fold and muscle attachments of a particularmaxillae in a certain individual. This feature is unique and importantin my guard inasmuch as the tray guard is initially applicableuniversally and then applicable individually.

Changes in details may be made without departing from the spirit or thescope of this invention, but what I claim as new is:

1. A contoured intra-oral dental mouth guard comprising a preformed baseshaped to conform to the general characteri" ics of an average personsmouth and of a general U-shape in plan and of a U-shape in crosssectionformed from flexible resilient material capable of being flexed andshaped by the fingers to initially conform generally to a certainpersons mouth and including an inner lingual side Wall and an outerbuccal side wall, a connecting bottom wall and rear walls uniting theside walls and bottom Wall, the sides or" the U-shaped base curvingupwardly from the anterior toward the rear walls to provide a mandibularcompensating curvature and said outer wall extending above the innerwall and deformable to gum areas adjacent to teeth roots, said bottomwall having its inner and outer surfaces inclined upwardly and inwardlyfrom the outer side wall to the inner side Wall to conform to themaxillary and mandibular plane of inclination of a persons mouth,whereby the outer surface conforms to the lower jaw teeth cusps andprovides a self-centering and balanced device when placed in the mouth,the preformed base having combined therewith an inner material havingthe same properties as the material from which the base is formed, saidinner material having impressions of the upper teeth and adjacent gumareas with the cusp portions of the inipressions extending down to thebottom wall of the base, and said bottom wall gradually increasing inthickness toward the front of base in the region of the incisor teeth.

2. A contoured intra-oral dental mouth guard as defined in claim 1,wherein the material from which the base and mix is made is an openpolymer resilient acrylic resin providing the deformable base capable ofbeing trimmed with a sharp instrument without destroying the curvaturesof the base and its Walls.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

